Frank

Frank Pé

(b. 15 July 1956, Belgium)

Broussaille - Sandrine (2000)

Frank Pé is a Belgian comics artist whoses work has always displayed a strong fascination for animals and the environment. He was born in Ixelles and studied sculpting for three years at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels. He made his first appearance in Spirou magazine in 1973 and 1974 with contributions to the 'Carte Blanche' section. Starting in 1976, he illustrated the magazine's nature section. He developed the character of 'Broussaille' as the storyteller in his onepagers and short stories about nature and animals in 1978.

Broussaille - Les baleines publiques (1984)

'Brousaille' eventually got its own series, which Frank makes in cooperation with scriptwriter Bom and colorist Topaze in 1984. The series features true-to-life characters and a strong poetic tone, that deals with the magic and beauty that hides in nature and other cultures, but also in the city and its inhabitants. It has placed Frank among the main representatives of Spirou's poetic movement in the second half of the 1970s, that also included Hislaire, Geerts and Wasterlain. Frank is a slow worker, and has created only five 'Broussaille' books to date (2013). The authors have however developed their character from a shy student in the city to a philosophical world traveler.

Broussaille - La Nuit du Chat (1989)

In addition, Frank assumed a more realistic style for his environmental-themed story 'Comme un Animal en Cage' starring the character 'Vincent Murat', in cooperation with scriptwriter Thierry Martens (Terence) in 1984. He also drew Spirou's editorial strip L'Élan' for the mailbox section between 1981 and 1987.

L'Élan

Frank was also present in the Dupuis collection Aire Libre with the nostaligic trilogy about a zoo in Normandy during World War I, that was written by Philippe Bonifay. The first episode was published in 1994, the second in 1999 and the third years later in 2007. In 1993, he developed the series 'Matur' for the Japanese publisher Kodansha.

As an animator, he has cooperated on the Warner Bros production 'Excalibur, The Magic Sword'. Frank Pé is very likely the only comic artist who has bred 50 reptiles, among which sixteen crocodiles.

In July 1991 a mural depicting 'Broussaille' was inaugurated at the intersection between the Marché au Charbon/Kolenmarkt and Teinturiers/Verversstraat in Brussels. It was the first comic book mural to be created as part of the monumental Brussels' Comic Book Route. In September 1999 it was renovated. Another mural depicting 'Broussaille' can be seen in the Rue des Wallons in Louvain-la-Neuve.